My name is Emily Hall and I am a senior at the University of Rhode Island. I will be graduating in May 2011 with a B.A. in Chemistry and Secondary Education. I grew up in Bethpage, New York where I attended Bethpage High School. My passions include working with kids, playing basketball, and sailing. I hope that in the future I can get invovled with the basketball program at a high school and share my love of the game with kids. I am really excited to student teach next semester and am truly looking forward to becoming a science teacher.
Unit_Chemical Reactions
The purpose of this unit is for students to be able to describe chemical reactions in writing. This unit will encompass balancing chemical equations, identifying types of reactions, predicting products of reactions, and predicting formation of a precipitate. Students will need to use their prior knowledge of concepts, such as the mole and conservation of mass, and apply it when balancing chemical equations. Therefore, I will offer a Do-Now exercise each morning to activate their prior knowledge and assess what they know.
It is always important to make concepts meaningful to students. I will do this by showing students that life is full of chemical reactions. Many demonstrations and video clips will be incorporated throughout the unit to give students examples of the ways in which chemical reactions play a role in our lives. The Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project is designed to help students relate chemistry to everyday life. Each pair of students will present their adopted chemical reaction to their classmates in the form of a poster, which will then be displayed in the classroom. They will choose a chemical reaction that somehow connects to their life, be it lighting a grill or the making of soap, and they will investigate the chemistry behind the reaction so that they better understand the world in which we live.
This unit will offer many collaborative learning experiences. At least once each lesson the students will be working in groups, applying the information they have been taught. Each day will start with a Do-Now that reviews the topics from the prior lesson and introduces the next topic which will be elaborated upon during the day. Some lessons follow the Do-Now with a visual demonstration conducted by the teacher so that students see the chemical equations they write and link them to real-life occurrences. Each type of chemical reaction can be demonstrated by the teacher or by a video clip and are used to grab the students' interest. One experiment that will be a great learning experience involves developing an activity series of metals. Based on the data they collect during the lab, the students will be able to construct a simpler activity series than the version in their textbooks. This will serve as an activity that explains the reasoning behind the chart they find in their book. Once finished with the experiment, the students will have a better understanding of the reactivity of metals because they have personally seen each metal react with solutions.
Principal: Michael J. Hobin
Sci Dept Head/MS Team Leader: Kathleen Sullivan
Office secretary(s): Gloria Coyle
Custodian(s): James Whittaker
Who do you call when sick or dying? Dr. Pothier
What are the phone numbers? (cell) 401-714-6357 (main office) 401-822-9499
Cooperating Teacher: Dr. Robyn Pothier, Julie Pankowicz
Emily Hall
My name is Emily Hall and I am a senior at the University of Rhode Island. I will be graduating in May 2011 with a B.A. in Chemistry and Secondary Education. I grew up in Bethpage, New York where I attended Bethpage High School. My passions include working with kids, playing basketball, and sailing. I hope that in the future I can get invovled with the basketball program at a high school and share my love of the game with kids. I am really excited to student teach next semester and am truly looking forward to becoming a science teacher.
Teaching Portfolio
Teaching PhilosophyUnit_Chemical Reactions
The purpose of this unit is for students to be able to describe chemical reactions in writing. This unit will encompass balancing chemical equations, identifying types of reactions, predicting products of reactions, and predicting formation of a precipitate. Students will need to use their prior knowledge of concepts, such as the mole and conservation of mass, and apply it when balancing chemical equations. Therefore, I will offer a Do-Now exercise each morning to activate their prior knowledge and assess what they know.
It is always important to make concepts meaningful to students. I will do this by showing students that life is full of chemical reactions. Many demonstrations and video clips will be incorporated throughout the unit to give students examples of the ways in which chemical reactions play a role in our lives. The Adopt-a-Chemical Reaction project is designed to help students relate chemistry to everyday life. Each pair of students will present their adopted chemical reaction to their classmates in the form of a poster, which will then be displayed in the classroom. They will choose a chemical reaction that somehow connects to their life, be it lighting a grill or the making of soap, and they will investigate the chemistry behind the reaction so that they better understand the world in which we live.
This unit will offer many collaborative learning experiences. At least once each lesson the students will be working in groups, applying the information they have been taught. Each day will start with a Do-Now that reviews the topics from the prior lesson and introduces the next topic which will be elaborated upon during the day. Some lessons follow the Do-Now with a visual demonstration conducted by the teacher so that students see the chemical equations they write and link them to real-life occurrences. Each type of chemical reaction can be demonstrated by the teacher or by a video clip and are used to grab the students' interest. One experiment that will be a great learning experience involves developing an activity series of metals. Based on the data they collect during the lab, the students will be able to construct a simpler activity series than the version in their textbooks. This will serve as an activity that explains the reasoning behind the chart they find in their book. Once finished with the experiment, the students will have a better understanding of the reactivity of metals because they have personally seen each metal react with solutions.
Student Teaching Information
A. First Student Teaching Placement
School: Coventry High SchoolAddress: 40 Resevoir Road Coventry, RI 02816
Principal: Michael J. Hobin
Sci Dept Head/MS Team Leader: Kathleen Sullivan
Office secretary(s): Gloria Coyle
Custodian(s): James Whittaker
Who do you call when sick or dying? Dr. Pothier
What are the phone numbers? (cell) 401-714-6357 (main office) 401-822-9499
Cooperating Teacher: Dr. Robyn Pothier, Julie Pankowicz
Observations and Reflections